Telephone direction-plate.



B. S. WHITEHEAD.

TELEPHONE DIRECTION PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1907.

Patented Apr. 12, 1910.

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BENJAMIN S. WHITEI-IEAD, OF NEWARK, NEV] JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TELEPHONE DIRECTION-PLATE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN S. \VHITE- HEAD, of Newark, in the county of Essex, in the State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Telephone Direction-Plates, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in telephone direction plates adapted to be clamped between the mouth piece and adjacent face of the transmitter and bearing directions for the use of the telephone and refers more particularly to certain improvements upon the device shown in the patent to G. Felsenthal, No. 839,127, December 25, 1906. These direction plates usually consist of a paper backing having directions printed thereon and covered by a transparent pyroxylin material, as celluloid, a portion of the paper backing being removed to permit the display of the subscribers number through the opening and transparent covering or facing which eX- tends across the opening.

My object is to provide the backing with a hinged flap of paper or other cheap material bearing the subscribers number and adapted to be folded upon the backing across the opening therein and behind the transparent facing which extends across the opening so that the subscribers number is readily visible to the user. In other words, the essential object of my present invention is to make the number-bearing flap a unitary part of the plate, that is, permanently attached thereto or integral therewith so that all the parts may be supplied as a single article of manufacture ready for use, thereby obviating the necessity for separate or removable back pieces which are more or less liable to be displaced or lost.

In the drawingsFigures 1 and 2 are re spectively a face view and side elevation of a telephone transmitter showing the application of my improved direction plate thereto, the mouth piece being shown in section in Fig. 1 and the direction plate being shown in section in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a rear face view of the direction plate showing the flap as unfolded and Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the direction plate through the flap in its folded position ready to be attached to the transmitter.

The transmitter case as, l, is pref- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 28, 1907'.

Patented Apr. 12, 1910.

Serial No. 376,192.

erably circular in form and is provided with the usual mouth piece 2 which is screwed into the transmitter in the usual manner, a suitable plate 3, (usually of metal,) bearing the number of the telephone, being secured to the front face of the case -1 as best seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

The direction plate shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 is also circular in general outline and of about the same diameter as the front face of the case 1 to which it is adapted to be applied and consists of a paper backing 4, a transparent facing 5- of pyroxylin material, as celluloid, and a flap -6, the paper backing t and transparent facing 5 being adhesively secured together in close contact throughout their entire areas so as to form practically a unitary structure. This circular direction plate is provided with a central opening --7- through the backing t and facing 5 of substantially the same diameter as the reduced end 8 of the mouth piece 2 which reduced end is inserted through the opening 7 when the mouth piece 2 is screwed in the receiver casing lso as to clamp the direction plate between the annular shoulder, as 9, on the mouth piece and front face of the case 1, as best seen in Fig. 2. The backing is provided with an elongated slot or opening -10 just above the central opening 7- leaving the adjacent portion of the transparent facing 5- integral across the 0pening 10.

The flap 6, which is preferably made of paper or other cheap material, is permanently attached at its outer edge by an adhesive or cementitious material to the backing d above the slot or opening -10 and is adapted to be folded and unfolded to and from a position across the back of said opening 10, said flap being of greater width from side to side than the slot and is also of greater length vertically from its junction with the back to its free edge than the vertical height of the opening and when unfolded against the back -textends downwardly some distance below the slot but terminates above the upper edge of the central opening 7 and bears upon its outer face or side nearest the slot 10 when folded, the subscribers number, as 1l, and slot 10- being located substantially the same distance from the junction of the flap -6 with the back piece l so that when the flap is folded and the direction plate secured in place between the mouth piece and adjacent face of the transmitter, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the number 1l will be readily visible through the transparent facing 5- and slot -10. Said flap is formed of two sections, the forward section being secured to the backing and is of less width than the rear section, the latter being provided with the subscribers number. The end edges of the forward section are flush with the end edges of the upper portion of the rear sec tion when the latter is folded against the backing. The lower portion of the rear section is rectangular in contour and said rear section is of a length so as to have its lower portion terminate at each end at a point removed from the peripheral edge of the backing. 1 The lower portion of the plate is cut away at 12 to conform to the shape of and to fit around the number plate 8 as best i seen in Figs. 1 and 3, although this is not an essential feature of the direction plate. This plate l may be made of paper, sheet metal, or any other comparatively cheap, light material capable of receiving imprints thereon, and of being covered with a coating i of some transparent material, as celluloid. i

hat I claim is:

A telephone plate comprising a circular backing and a transparent facing covering the backing, said backing and facing having a centrallydisposed opening, said backing furthermore provided with a rectangular sight opening above said central opening, and a flap permanently attached to the backing and of a width as to extend in close proximity to said centrally-dis iiosed opening, said flap formed of two sections, the forward section being secured to said backing and of less width than the rear section, said rear section provided with subscribers number adapted to be exposed through the rectangular opening, said forward section having its end edges flush with the end edges of the upper portion of the rear section when the latter is folded against the backing and the rear section having the upper portion thereof flush with said backing and its lower portion rectangular in contour, and said lower portion of a length as to have its lower portion terminate at a point removed from the peripheral edge of the backing.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of liiay, 1907.

BENJAMIN S. YVHITEHEAD. lVitnesses J. C. CosTnLLo, J. V. LANE. 

